World Bulletin/News Desk

Gunmen attacked the central Malian town of Tenenkou on Friday, killing at least three people during an intense gunbattle with the army, local and military sources said.

About 20 gunmen entered Tenenkou on motorbikes on Friday morning and opened fire on Malian soldiers who then responded in a three-hour gunfight, a local government source said.

A Malian military source said at least three people were killed, among them two Malian soldiers and a civilian. A source in the UN mission MINUSMA said that at least five people died and that its troops were on their way to the town.

Some of the attackers are now in Malian custody and others have been pushed back, a defence ministry statement said.